By Johan Laubscher
This is part 2 of our How to spot an Audi R16 article series. Part 2 focuses on the differences between the original Audi R8 LMS and the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. All four articles within this series covering all four versions of the Audi R16 can be seen via the four links listed below:
Article links:
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 1: Introduction
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 2: Original Audi R8 LMS and 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 3: Audi R8 GRAND-AM
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 4: 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Article links:
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 1: Introduction
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 2: Original Audi R8 LMS and 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 3: Audi R8 GRAND-AM
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 4: 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra
How to spot an Audi R16: Part 2: Original Audi R8 LMS and 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra
Audi Sport launched its first FIA GT3 spec race car, the original Audi R8 LMS, in 2009. The car achieved much success in its first season and competed almost unchanged from 2009 until 2011. At the beginning of 2012 Audi Sport customer racing launched the first updated version of the R8 LMS, called the Audi R8 LMS ultra.
The Audi R8 LMS ultra was a winner straight out of the box. The ultra looked fast standing still and looked even better at speed out on track. However with different GT3 Audi race cars on track, being the older Audi R8 LMS and the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra, some fans battled telling the difference between the two versions. Spotting an ultra can be difficult, especially depending on the angle at which you see the car. But it is possible to visually tell the two versions apart.
Front View
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1. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has a much wider rear-wing. The older R8 LMS rear-wing is 1780mm and the 2012 ultra rear-wing is 1920mm.
2. The front fender on the 2012 R8 LMS ultra has a slightly different shape with a lower outward appearance. This gives the ultra a perceived wider stance, while in actual fact it is the same overall width as the older R8 LMS. See points 18 and 19 for more detail regarding the fender.
3. The air intake above the splitter is slightly different on the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The ultra also does not have a visible board under the front splitter, on the centreline of the car which is present on the older R8 LMS. The older R8 LMS also has a pronounced front lip. The ultra front splitter is almost completely flat underneath when viewed from the front, and only has a very small lip.
4. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra only has one large front side splitter on either side, unlike the R8 LMS which has two smaller ones.
Side View
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5. The rear wing end-plates on the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra are much larger than the older R8 LMS. However some older R8 LMS cars have also used the new end-plates. See point 11 for more details.
6. The rear wing mounting of the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra is in a new lower optimised position. The new mountings are lower and further rearwards (The ultra pictured has the older more upright mountings). See points 16 and 17 for more details.
7. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has larger air intakes on the side of the car. See point 15 for more details.
8. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has a small rectangular plate on the side of the front splitter, which is not present on the older R8 LMS. It is often a brown colour. This plate is lower than the front splitter, thus it wears down first when the car bottoms out, ensuring less damage to the expensive splitter, whilst the less expensive side plate can be replaced.
9. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra only has one large front side splitter on either side, unlike the R8 LMS which had two small ones.
10. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has a more extended front splitter which has a sharper shape when viewed from above. See point 12 for more detail.
Click on the photo for larger image
Click on the photo for larger image
12. Point 10 continued: Here one can clearly see the difference between the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra's sharper edged and extended front splitter and the old R8 LMS's shorter and more rounded front splitter.
Rear View
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13. From the rear the cars are almost visually identical; the only visible difference is the wider rear wing and the lower rear wing mountings on the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Both the old R8 LMS and the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra have a visually similar rear diffuser.
Other Aspects
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14. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has fixed windows accompanied by a sliding window opening on the driver’s side of the car. The ultra has carbon doors whereas the older R8 LMS has the normal production doors. The production based doors of the old car still have operating windows which can be put up or down (Note the windows of the R8 LMS on the left are in the down position). The ultra with the new carbon doors does not have operating windows and thus has a little sliding window on the driver’s side of the car, another feature with which to identify an ultra. (However lately some teams have begun fitting small sliding windows to their older R8 LMS cars).
15. Here one can also see the larger air intake more clearly. The new 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra has a much larger intake which has a much sharper apex corner compared to the older R8 LMS.
Click on the photo for larger image
16. Point 6 continued: Some of the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars have been seen running the new wider rear wing but using the more upright mountings similar to the older R8 LMS. In these photos the WRT car on the left is an ultra and has the new wing mounted on the older more upright mountings. The Phoenix car on the right is also a new ultra but has the new rear wing and mountings. Here one can see the new ultra mountings have a more curved design and reach further rearwards and hold the wing in a lower vertical position than that compared to the older R8 LMS mountings.
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17. Point 6 continued: The differences between the rear-wings are difficult to see. This is a design drawing taken from a technical document about the 2012 R8 LMS ultra (Link to this document HERE). It clearly shows the difference between the rear wings, rear wing mounting and rear wing position. The yellow wing is the older R8 LMS rear-wing and position, note that the rear wing is narrower and that the mountings for the wing are more forward and upright. The blue wing is the new wider R8 LMS ultra rear wing. Note the new mountings here are lower and reach further rearwards than compared that of the older R8 LMS.
Note: The FIA originally disallowed the new lower more rearward rear wing position during homologation, and thus all Audi R8 LMS ultra cars used the new wider rear wing on the older more upright mountings. There were a few exceptions to this rule as some of the individual race series, such as the VLN, allowed the new rear wing position set up.
18. The front fender of the Audi R8 LMS is much smoother than that of the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The Audi R8 LMS ultra fender has a distinct edge in the fender which follows the round contour of the wheel. This edge gives the ultra the lower and wider appearance when viewed from the front.
19. The edge described in point 18 carries on until the fender meets the front splitter. Here the curvature of the front nose meets the edge and forms a distinct corner.
20. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra was launched with bonnet vents which were not present on the older Audi R8 LMS. These vents were disallowed during homologation and the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars had to run with a panel which closed the vents, thus returning that section of the car to the appearance similar to the older R8 LMS. However, as was the case with the rear-wing positions, there were a few exceptions to this rule as some of the individual race series, such as the VLN, allowed the open bonnet vent set-up.
There are many differences under the skin of the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra, including revised carbon doors, new layouts to the cooling system, wider front wheels etc. The above “tutorial” gives one the ability to at least visually distinguish between the cars. For some more information regarding the technical aspects of the ultra have a look at this great link to a gallery hosted at the J-Fly Racing R8 LMS teams' Facebook page, which shows a technical document of the ultra, see it HERE.Note: The FIA originally disallowed the new lower more rearward rear wing position during homologation, and thus all Audi R8 LMS ultra cars used the new wider rear wing on the older more upright mountings. There were a few exceptions to this rule as some of the individual race series, such as the VLN, allowed the new rear wing position set up.
18. The front fender of the Audi R8 LMS is much smoother than that of the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The Audi R8 LMS ultra fender has a distinct edge in the fender which follows the round contour of the wheel. This edge gives the ultra the lower and wider appearance when viewed from the front.
19. The edge described in point 18 carries on until the fender meets the front splitter. Here the curvature of the front nose meets the edge and forms a distinct corner.
20. The 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra was launched with bonnet vents which were not present on the older Audi R8 LMS. These vents were disallowed during homologation and the Audi R8 LMS ultra cars had to run with a panel which closed the vents, thus returning that section of the car to the appearance similar to the older R8 LMS. However, as was the case with the rear-wing positions, there were a few exceptions to this rule as some of the individual race series, such as the VLN, allowed the open bonnet vent set-up.
This was part 2 of our How to spot an Audi R16 article series. Part 2 focused on the differences between the original Audi R8 LMS and the 2012 Audi R8 LMS ultra. All four articles within this series covering all four versions of the Audi R16 can be seen via the four links listed below:
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